Winter Fun Part 1

The week before Christmas we made a very short trip to North Carolina. The kids have been asking for the last 2 years if the could pleeeaaase see snow. That's not something we can just whip out of our back pockets, so I don't think they realized just how fortunate they were for us to first of all be able to even go there (thanks to some very sweet family!) and then how perfect it was for all the snow to even be there! Asheville got 22 inches of snow in the 24 hours before we arrived. I think there was even more snow the morning of our arrival. We were afraid it would be iced over by the time we were able to enjoy it the next morning, but that was not the case! The parents of my sis-in-law, Ginger, have these nice cabin not too far from Asheville where they let us come stay. You have to drive down this steep driveway that goes right up to the house - the first night, we pulled up to the top of the driveway and peered down at the house. Chris and I both looked at each other, and I knew we were thinking the same thing.... "Lord, please don't let us slide right into the house!" There is also a nice creek right behind it, so Chris kept singing the Veggie Tales song (from the movie Jonah) "Drive into the river, Bob" everytime we backed out of the carport to leave the house. Thankfully there were no problems for these Floridians who are not used to driving in the snow!

On to the fun... As our Christmas present, Ryan and Ginger gave us money for the kids and Chris to go snow tubing. Obviously, no snow tubing for the pregnant mommy, but I don't think I would have had a chance to do too much anyway, with trying to take pictures and help Luke in his little play area (there was a small area for the younger kids to play in).

Here's the big hill of snow - they rode a "carpet lift" up to the top and then slid down the tube to the bottom.

Cole coming down...

And Ansley...

For the first part, I pulled Luke up his small hill and then pulled him back down. Chris finally came over a little bit later and then really started giving him a big push down the hill. He had fun with me, but he had a BLAST with Daddy!

Here's a short vide of Luke coming down. He laughs the whole time and then starts saying "Daddy, push me again!" at the end.

Playing together??

Chris snapped this picture at my parents house. There are so few times when ALL 3 kids play happily together for more than 5 minutes, so I guess Chris decided to catch it while he could.

Thanksgiving Feast

Ansley's class had a Thanksgiving Feast a few days before Thanksgiving. We had the typical Thanksgiving meal - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, green beans. Yum - I get hungry just remembering it!



The best part, though, was the kids little performance. Ansley loves being in the spotlight, so she was excited about the lines she learned to say for the little skit and the songs they sang. My favorite "If I Were a Butterfly" :-) I have fond memories of singing/performing that myself as a kid.

October fun

Since this blog drives me crazy when I try to add pictures, things are a little out of sequence here, but it takes way too long to try to move them around. I'm probably the only one that it bothers that these are not in order, but oh well! Here's a glimpse of what October looked like for us.

Halloween/Fall Festival/whatever you want to call it :-) We went with some friends to the Winter Garden Fall Festival. There were several rides (the kids were only allowed to choose one, because it cost a small fortune!), and of course they were giving out lots of candy. We had dinner at the local pizzeria down there, which is always yummy. And, I think the "special memory" from that night was that someone paid for our meal (ours and the family we were with). We think it was another TFA family that was there also, but we don't know for sure.

On a little side note, just recently (early December) we had that happen again. Chris, Cole, and I were at Cracker Barrel for breakfast (my parents kept Luke and Ansley b/c Cole had a therapist appt that Saturday afternoon). We have no idea who paid for that meal, but it was a nice surprise. We weren't for sure if the person paying the meal gave the server a tip, so we went ahead and tipped her also. Cole asked why we did this, since she most likely got double tipped, so it was a good chance to explain that we could bless someone else like we had just been blessed. We are located right in the middle of two different Target stores - one is closer to a not so great area, and twice while I have been there recently, I have been approached for help from someone. Once I ended up taking a sick, overweight, elderly lady to an appointment she had down the road, in another little town, and then Chris and the kids took her dinner later that night. Obviously, more and more people are needing help right now, so we had a good (I think? who knows what goes through Cole's mind some times!) conversation with him and could use some of the examples of things that had recently crossed our paths. So, I'm totally digressing... here's pics of the kids... Cole was a Magic basketball player, Ansley a ballerina, and Luke a carpenter/tool man. Our friends two little girls, Hope and Faith, are there also.

Ansley and her friend Faith - they have been in the same class at school together for the last 3 years and they are about a month apart in age. And now they live in the neighborhood across from us, so that's extra nice too!

Cole played his first year of FBVA basketball. He played up an age level and did pretty well. He is so stinking competitive, so it was SO important to him that they win. And of course, it was very important that he get a trophy at the end of the season! My camera takes terribble pictures in gymnasiums, so sorry for the poor quality.

Luke hanging out at his big brother's basketball games. He is getting pretty used to spending time at the gym. We have to pack little bags with coloring books, crayons, cars, etc., but I think he doesn't mind the gym as much as Ansley does. Poor girl - she's got many years of being in the gym, between her dad and her brothers!

We also went to a local petting farm. Ansley had been before, but Cole had not. Ansley is so afraid of almost all animals, and last time we went she wouldn't do anything - no riding the pony, milking the cow, petting animals, etc. So this time she promised she would do more... Well, she did at least ride the pony this time, but that was it! Cole did most everything, but Luke stayed away. He cried while he rode the pony! I thought he would really like the farm since he loves animals, particularly dogs, but I guess he doesn't like getting up close and personal with them!

Riding the little train that goes around the farm:

Cole milks his first cow!

The one thing Ansley did do - ride the pony....

Chapel

Not sure if this post will turn out, but I'm trying... Ansley's class performed a song in chapel back in November. It was a "special" chapel because the school had been named a Blue Ribbon School - apparently that's a pretty big deal. So... her class was asked to sing because you know how cute young kids are when they get up on stage. I was afraid that Ansley would be nervous about getting up in front of all those people, but no sirree - not her! She talked about it for several days leading up to it, how she couldn't wait to get up there.

She is in the middle - I think about 6 over from the left.

We'll see if this video will play - here's her class singing:

Each chapel a class is asked to lead the chapel, so the teacher and students have to prepare in advance. Cole was asked to say the prayer - I do think he is going to be a preacher one day :-) Ok, not sure about that, but he did do a pretty good job. I think he forgot a few things that he was going to say, once he actually started praying, but I still think he did great! His class also did a little skit (I didn't post that) up on stage that was super cute. Here he is saying the prayer - I think the video records the kids before him leading the pledges...

Cole's birthday

Aahhh... my neglected blog. Not sure if it's a New Year's thing or just finally finding a moment to write a bit, but going to try to get caught up on the last few months. Cole's birthday was held mid-October - it was crazy. Fun, but crazy. I think I had a temporary lapse of insanity when we invited about ten 5-8 yr old boys over. I started thinking about it and realized that Cole didn't have a true party last year (just had 2 friends over to spend the night) and the two years previously we lived at a house that had a pool, so we spent the party outside, in the pool, etc. It was definitely not as crazy those years. Aahhh... think I really missed that pool this year! And a few of our activities planned for the party this year were to take place outside. Of course, it started raining about 30 minutes into the party. Fun memories though! Anyway, here's the pics:

Cole is sooo into Legos right now, so it was of course a Lego party. The boys each had their own little Lego set to put together. Some were master builders and others weren't quite sure what to do, so this kept us very busy trying to help!

My sweet Cole... can't believe you are now 7 years old. You have certainly brightened our world... you are constantly thinking and keeping us on our toes with your challenging questions and thoughts. I know your Daddy is happy to have someone to watch basketball and football games with and look through the newspaper for different scores and stats! :-) I am looking forward to the rest of your year as a 7 year old!